|
MIST
|
|
NBS
Technologies, Inc., a multinational company, designs, manufactures, and
distributes wired and wireless transaction terminals and software,
including payment and transaction gateways. The company has an installed
base of over 500,000 and customers include financial institutions,
retailers, government agencies, and healthcare organizations.
To those of you who attended our Green
Sheet
seminars in Chicago or New York, this Toronto-based public company may
sound a bit like MIST, and with good reason. In March NBS renamed their
transaction terminal business Mobile Information Solution Technologies,
Inc., or MIST. The
Move to Wireless
Earlier this year, NBS Technologies announced that it was reorganizing its
business by separating its card issuance business (which includes the
imprinter, card solution, and card issuance operations) and its wireless
transaction solutions business. The card issuance business was sold to NBS
Holdings Limited, to be owned jointly by Trilon Financial Corporation and
CAI Capital Corporation, the company’s major shareholders. NBS Holdings
is focusing on new card applications, smart card applications in
particular, in North America.
The wireless transaction solutions business is still owned by NBS and
operates under the MIST brand name. MIST is focused on the wireless market
for both data and POS transaction solutions. The company is deploying
fully integrated debit and credit POS wireless terminals as well as
multi-functional credit payment devices. Just a few weeks ago the split
was voted on by the board and shareholders. NBS Technologies (the parent
company of NBS Transactions) is now MIST Inc. MIST is now the corporate
entity and the other divisions are either a part of MIST or with NBS
Holdings.
“The growth strategy of MIST, Inc., is to continue developing products
and services for our core markets as well as to form alliances with VARs,
major vendors, and other manufacturers to penetrate new markets. As a
result of this strategy, MIST, Inc., has developed wireless transaction
terminals, an ideal complement to its range of existing products,” said
Mike Mulcahy, Executive Vice President-Managing Director. Products
The Freedom I and Freedom II are MIST’s wireless terminal solutions.
Both are mobile and battery powered, and the Freedom II includes a
built-in printer.
Mulcahy tells us these terminals are different from other wireless
terminals because the Freedom was not designed as a transaction device but
rather a wireless delivery device. C&D, the developers of the Freedom,
created it to deliver data for law enforcement and gaming applications.
Therefore, it has abilities that POS terminals do not, including 4 megs of
memory that can be upgraded to 8 megs. It also has two-way paging and text
messaging capabilities, as well as Web browser applications. “When we
purchased C&D Holdings, we knew that NBS needed to get to the U.S.
market and we knew we needed to get a strong jump on things. We feel that
with our acquisition of C&D Holdings, a wireless product would be a
good opportunity to use our skills and apply new technology.” MIST
also provides wired terminals, including the Turbo I and II, Integrator,
and PIN 70. •
Turbo I: compact terminal that delivers power and flexibility in a
small foot price. •
Turbo II: LAN ready terminal designed for multi-lane systems. • The
Integrator: can be configured to meet the merchant’s requirements. Reads
both Mondex®
and smart card. •
PIN 70: Meets the most demanding security requirements for secure
PIN entry. The PIN 70 is designed to safeguard debit card transaction
processing, including PIN and the financial institution’s encryption
keys.
MIST is incorporating new technologies for use in next generation terminal
products that will offer smart card, contactless readers, wireless
communications, high speed thermal printers, and portability.
The MIST group operates from Lachine, Quebec with sales forces in
Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Los Angeles, and Amherst N.H. The growth
strategy of MIST is to continue developing products and services for their
core markets, as well as forming alliances with VARs, major vendors, and
other manufacturers. Products are now available through both TASQ and
Horizon and Mulcahy tells us that GTE is selling MIST products as part of
their direct marketing campaign. For more information about MIST contact Mike Mulcahy, Executive Vice President at (603) 886-8620 or e-mail michael@mistwireless.com. Additional information can also be found at www.mistwireless.com and in the upcoming August 2000 issue of GSQ.
© Copyright 1995-2000 |
